Electronic employment contracts – government bill

The draft Act on the IT system for handling certain contracts, prepared by the Minister of Family and Social Policy, is currently at the parliamentary stage. The bill proposes the introduction of a dedicated electronic system designed to facilitate legally compliant preparation of employment contracts, mandate contracts, and activation contracts. This system will enable both the conclusion of contracts and the submission of notifications to social insurance institutions and the tax office in one place. Through the system, it will also be possible to electronically sign the aforementioned documents and send them directly.

Contract Handling System

The detailed provisions regarding the system as presented in the draft are as follows:

• Provision by the minister responsible for labour affairs of the specified document templates; access to the IT system will be granted after logging in via a trusted profile, on an individual account at the praca.gov.pl or biznes.gov.pl portals,
• Extension of the use of trusted and personal electronic signatures from official administrative matters to include employment contracts, mandate contracts, service contracts (subject to mandate provisions), and activation contracts on the praca.gov.pl portal,
• Enabling the conclusion, amendment, termination (including notice), expiration handling, and execution of other necessary actions related to the rights and obligations arising from such contracts electronically within the system,
• Introduction of a notification mechanism informing contract parties about any changes in data, receipt of declarations of intent, applications, and other documents; notifications will be sent via email to the contact address provided by the parties; additionally, SMS notifications may be sent to the contact phone number indicating that an email notification was sent; phone numbers provided will be entered into the system but will not be disclosed to the contracting party without the consent of the employee, contractor, or nanny,
• Maintaining and storing employee documentation electronically within the system.

Contracts Covered by the System

The solution proposed by the drafter applies to:

• employment contracts,
• mandate contracts,
• service contracts, to which mandate provisions apply, provided that at least one party to such contracts is a micro-entrepreneur (an entity employing no more than 9 persons), a farmer, or a natural person,
• service contracts concluded with caregivers, which must be entered into by a parent and meet the specific conditions set out in the draft act,
• harvest assistance contracts (entered into with farmers).

The Contract Handling System and the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS)

The system will also be integrated with the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). Employers will have the possibility to submit notifications to ZUS, and the system will assist in calculating and paying social insurance contributions and tax advances, as well as determining the amount of salary payable to the employee’s bank account. Additionally, the system will allow employees to maintain electronic contact with the employment authority after losing their job.

It is important to emphasise that the solution is intended only to assist employers, contractors, or parents in calculating tax liabilities, among other things. The parties to the contract will input data into the system, based on which, for example, tax liabilities will be calculated and subsequently approved by users. Therefore, the system will only serve as an auxiliary tool facilitating certain activities. Should an employer fail to pay taxes or social insurance contributions, they will be held liable under the same conditions as any employer who fails to fulfil their obligations. The drafter does not envisage the possibility of making payments through the system.

The Act is set to come into effect 30 days after its promulgation.

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